Stories From Main Street: Tenafly Teen Part Of Autism Clinical Trial

TENAFLY, N.J. (CBSnewYork) – For any parent of a child with autism, hope can be found in a red-haired freckle-faced girl named Rebecca Singer from Tenafly, WCBS 880’s Sean Adams reported.

WCBS 880’s Sean Adams On The Story

“Rebecca is 16-years-old. When she was born she had a lot of developmental delays,” her father John told Adams.

He said they had Rebecca’s genetics tested.

“We found out that she was missing a piece of chromosome 22,” he said.

Rebecca has an extremely rare condition called Phelan-McDermid Syndrome, which causes autism.

“She doesn’t speak. Rebecca needs assistance with just about everything she does,” John said. “She’s learning at a school – the REED Academy, the school that we helped start – all kinds of grades, skills like to load the dishwasher and clean the table. But she still needs someone by her side.”